Bulldog Men Third In GLIAC Preseason Poll

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University men's basketball team has been selected to finish third in the 2011-12 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Men's Basketball North Division Preseason Poll.

Additionally, senior forward Jerrell Sanders (Grand Rapids/Creston) has been tabbed as a preseason All-GLIAC Second Team honoree as announced by the league office.

The Bulldogs received two first place votes and 125 total points in the voting process. Members of the media voted on the preseason poll with the league's head coaches and sports information directors choosing the preseason all-conference teams.

In the North Division, Michigan Tech was picked to finish first with 156 points and 12 first-place votes, Grand Valley State was picked second with 151 points and 11 first-place votes, Ferris State was third with 125 points and two first-place votes, Lake Superior State was fourth with 91 points, Saginaw Valley State was tabbed fifth with 86 points, Northwood was chosen sixth, with 50 points and Northern Michigan was seventh, with 40 points.

In the 2011-12 GLIAC Preseason Men's Basketball Poll, Findlay was picked first in the South Division with 170 points and 20 of 25 first-place votes. The Oilers were followed by Hillsdale College with 140 points and three first-place votes, Wayne State with 134 points and two first-place votes, Ashland with 96, Tiffin University with 72, Ohio Dominican University with 53, and Lake Erie College with 35.

The Ferris State men concluded the 2010-11 season by reaching the NCAA Division II Sweet Sixteen and the Midwest Regional Championship Game last March in Louisville, Ky. The Bulldogs also captured the GLIAC North Division Championship and hosted the GLIAC Tournament Semifinals and Finals a year ago while finishing with a 24-8 overall record. FSU must replace four key starters this campaig from a team that fell to eventual D2 national champion Bellarmine in the regional finals.

FSU's 24-8 overall men's hoops mark last year was the program's best since posting a 24-7 record and also reaching the regional final in 2004-05. Overall, the 24 wins recorded by the Bulldogs was tied for the third-highest total in school history and FSU's 16 league regular-season victories was best in the conference and tied for the most GLIAC wins in Bulldog annals.

The Bulldogs have already played a pair of exhibition contests this season as FSU fell to perennial NCAA Division I power Michigan State by an 85-58 score on Sunday (Oct. 30) at the Breslin Center in East Lansing before bouncing back to record a 91-78 preseason triumph over Grace Bible on Wednesday (Nov. 2) evening at FSU's Jim Wink Arena.

Wednesday's exhibition was the second of three preseason tilts for the Bulldogs, who next visit longtime West Michigan foe Calvin on Tuesday, Nov. 8. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. (ET) in Grand Rapids, Mich.

FSU officially opens the 2011-12 regular-season campaign with back-to-back games against NCAA Division I competition on consecutive nights as the Bulldogs visit Michigan on Nov. 11 for a 7 p.m. tilt against the Wolverines in Ann Arbor followed by matchup with Central Michigan the next evening (Nov. 12) in Mt. Pleasant.